“Te nunc invoco, mortem” Dean intoned as he cut his hand and added some of his blood to the bowl. Casting this ritual had a strange sense of familiarity to it. He had cast many such rituals in his life, sometimes to save lives, other times to make deals, and quite a few of them to save his own skin, or that of his brother’s. But this ritual would be the last one.
“Te in mea potesteate defixi.” Dean continued. The building started to rumble. Lightbulbs started to fizzle and explode.
“Nunc et in aeternum.” Dean continued despite himself. The rumbling stopped. Dean pulled a bandana from his pocket and wrapped it around his bloody hand.
“Don’t tell me that’s queso.” Said the distinctive British accent of Death. Dean turned around. There he was, Death, the fourth horseman of the apocalypse, many a headache and a lifesaver for Dean. He was regarding the tray of Mexican food that Dean had prepared as an offering for Death.
“Yeah--yes” Dean said as he walked over to pick up the tray, then walk over to Death. “Queso and, uh, taquitos, tamales. Homemade by yours truly.”
“All with the bad fat” Dean smiled as he came to a standstill in front of Death. “Consider it an offering”
“For?” Death asked with a sardonic grin on his as he pick up a tamale to sample.
“I want you to kill me” Dean said with dead seriousness.
“What I find truly fascinating, Dean…” Death started, while he munched on the tamale, then smacked his lips “Mmm. That’s good.”
“…Is that you and I both know that I’ve been burned by you Winchesters before, yet you still call.” Death finished as he walked to the table that had the rest of the food on it.
“Yeah, I know, but not this time, okay?” Dean said as turned and walked to put the tray back on the table. “No games, No second thoughts.”
“I know you know what this is.” Dean said, pointing to the Mark of Cain on his inner forearm. Death looked at the Mark. “I know you know what it can do.”
“I’ve tried to fight it. I’ve tried to beat it on my own. And I-I can’t. I got no moves left… Except you.”
“Well, I never thought I’d see the day. My goodness. Dean Winchester has tipped over his king.” Said Death as he sat down. “but I won’t kill you, Dean” he said, sipping his drink.
“You’re Death!” Dean exclaimed weakly.
“And that mark on your arm is the first curse. Nothing can kill you.”
“Okay, well, forget killing me. Can you get rid of it?” Dean asked, exasperated.
“I could.” Death said reluctantly.
“But…?”
“Creatio ex nihilo. God created the earth out of nothing, or so your Sunday-school teacher would have you believe.” Death replied.
“What, so genesis is a lie, eh? Shocker” Dean said sarcastically.
“Before there was Light, before there was God and the Archangels, there wasn’t nothing” Death replied, raising from his seat to pace the room. He turned to face Dean and began to talk.
“There was the Darkness, a horribly destructive, amoral force that was beaten back by God and His Archangels in a terrible war. God locked the darkness away where it could do no harm, and He created a Mark that would serve as both Lock and Key, which he entrusted to his most valued lieutenant, Lucifer. But the Mark began to assert its own will, revealed itself as a curse, and began to corrupt. Lucifer became jealous of man. God banished Lucifer to Hell. Lucifer passed the Mark to Cain, who passed the mark to you, the proverbial finger in the dike.”
“Well, that is just fan-friggin-tastic, isn’t it?” Dean replied in a low voice, so taken aback that he had to sit down.
“So I could remove the mark, but only if you will share it with another to ensure that the lock remains unbroken and the Darkness remains Banned.” Death said seriously.
“I’m not doing that… not to anyone” Dean replied solemnly.
Death regarded Dean for a moment, then turn around away from his and said “What if I told you I could relocate you somewhere far away, not even on this earth, where you would still be alive but no longer a danger to yourself or to others?”
Dean was silent for a moment, before speaking “If it keeps me from killing people, then I’m all for it.”
Death raised an eyebrow. “Really? I haven’t even spoke of where I would send you.”
“I have killed people, ok? All I know is that I’m just barely stopping myself from trying to kill you. I’ve stopped caring about anything other than killing, and that makes me sick.” Dean said heatedly, before sighing in despair. “That isn’t me.”
Death regarded Dean for a moment, before moving to the food trey to eat another tamale.
“The idea I have in mind, Dean, is to find another world, far from this one, with a power strong enough to seal away the Mark.” He said, munching away his tamale. “You would still have to bare the Mark, nothing can change that, and you would still never die or age. But you would be free of the Mark’s destructive urges, and would be able to live a normal life, or at least as normal a life you can live as a Winchester.”
“Like I said, if it keeps me from killing people, I’m all for it.” Dean said.
“Good.” Death replied “But while this food is exceptional, it is not enough for me to go through with this.”
“Yeah? Fine, what do you want.” Dean practically snarled. Death was unfazed.
“Only one thing. Sam Winchester must go with you.” He said.
Dean was confused.
“What? Why?” he asked.
“If there is one thing I have learned in watching and dealing with you Winchesters, it’s that both of you are too loyal to each other for your own good. I have no doubt that Sam would do everything he could, both to get you back, and free you of the Mark, which as I have said cannot happen, lest the Darkness be set free.” Death replied, turning to face Dean. “This way you two can be together, and it is one less headache for me to fix.”
Dean frowned, considering. He had hoped not to involve Sam in his deal with Death, but it looked like that was going to be impossible, that or let the Mark have control over him, which was something he could not allow.
“You promise not to hurt him or put him in danger, right?” Dean asked.
“I promise not to deliberately hurt him or put him in danger. Any harm or danger he comes to after you and he arrive at your destination as a result of his own actions will be his own fault.” Death replied.
“I guess that will have to do.” Dean said, and pulled out his phone.
“So, let me get this straight.” Said Sam. He had arrived at the abandoned bar about half an hour earlier, and after lot of pleading and accusing, Death had actually managed to explain the situation in full to him.
“The Mark of Cain is actually a seal made by God to keep away something even worse than Lucifer, so you can’t get rid of it, but you take us someplace that can seal the Mark away so that it doesn’t make Dean want to kill people, but you can’t do it here. Is that right?”
“A simple explanation, but yes.” replied Death. Sam frowned.
“Ok, um, it’s just… why can’t you do it?” Sam asked
“I’m sorry, but you will have to expand on that, Sam, I’m afraid I don’t understand you.” replied Death.
“Oh, why can’t you seal the Mark?”
“Oh. well, I am not proud of it, but even I am not strong enough to seal something as powerful as the Mark of Cain.” Death said, frowning.
“So, if the Mark is so powerful that even you can’t seal it away, what makes you think this other ‘power’ is strong enough to?”
“You will just have to trust me on that.” Said Death. “At the very least, it is better than the alternative.”
“The alternative?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.
“The alternative… is that I send you both to a primitive world with no society to speak of, and the very real risk that Dean will kill you, regardless of his intentions.” Death replied.
Sam’s eyes widened, as if the concept of Dean killing him was completely foreign to him. “Dean wouldn’t do that!”
“No, Sammie, I would.” Said Dean from across the room. “If you were the only person around, I don’t think I could stop myself from killing you.”
“Hence, our current working solution to this conundrum.” Death interjected before Sam could start a new argument. “So, will you go through with it or not?”
There was a heavy frown on Sam’s face as he considered it. The truth was, this deal sounded too good to be true, and that was exactly why Sam didn’t like it. He had been caught in too many bad deals that had seemed like a good idea at the time, but bit him in the ass later, to take deals like this at face value.
“What’s the catch?” he asked suspiciously.
“None, as far as I can see.” Death replied “Unless of course, you consider having to live on a completely foreign world, adapt to a completely foreign culture, and live in completely foreign bodies to be the catch. Then yes, there is a catch.”
“Wait, you said nothing about having new bodies” Dean spoke up from the across the room.
“I thought you said you were all for it, Dean?” Death asked, eyebrow raised.
“Well, yeah, but you should have told me that sooner. I don’t want to live in a meat puppet.” Dean replied.
“You misunderstand me, I did not mean that you would be possessing someone else, only that I would change your current bodies to resemble the local populace.” Death said.
“Oh.”
“So, wait, this will be a completely new species that we will be living with, and you will change us to look like them?” asked Sam
“Yes, and I will inject knowledge of their language into your mind before we go.” Replied Death
“What will they look like?” Asked Sam.
“I don’t know, I have to find them first. And before you ask, I will make sure that it is not unduly dangerous for you.” Replied Death.
“You don’t even know where you’re going to send us yet? Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Death had an annoyed look on his face. “The Universe is a big place, Sam. Rest assured, while death may be universal, I am only an incarnation of death, and as such I have only existed here on earth since this vessel agreed to let me inhabit him. So yes Sam, I have to look for a place that is suitable before we can go there. Do you have any other inane questions for me, Sam Winchester, or can we get started?”
“Just one.” Said Dean from across the room.
“Oh? And what question is that?” asked Death impatiently.
Dean smiled asked “Can we take the Impala with us?”
It was a very cross Death that replied “No”.
Dean woke with a start. The first thing he realized was that his body felt different. The last thing he remembered was Death snapping his fingers. There had be no warning, no preparation, just one moment he was in the decrepit bar with Sam and Death, the other he was somewhere else.
Dean remembered Death saying something about changing their bodies, and so tried to get a feel for his new body. It felt… strange, like he only had one finger on each… arm? And one toe on each leg? All of his digits felt like they were an extension of his limbs, instead of as part of his hands or feet. Also he felt… other limbs, two on his back and one on his rump. And his skin felt weird, as if it had a lot of hair on it.
It was a moment after he noticed these things that knowledge flooded his mind. Knowledge of how to walk with these new legs, how to fly with what apparently were wings on his back, how to speak a language that he didn’t remember learning, and various other things.
Dean opened his eyes. He appeared to be on the shore of what looked like a large lake. Surrounding the lake was flora that would not have looked out of place at a scenic park in Everytown, USA. In other words, it looked like the world that he was familiar with and used to.
Dean Winchester was not sure what expected, but it was not this. He had thought that an alien world would look, well, alien. It was when he walked, on all fours, to the lake to look at his reflection that he spotted the most alien thing he had ever seen. Namely, himself.
His eyes were enormous, so large that they looked like they might drop out of their eye-sockets with their weight. His head wasn’t proportioned anything like a human’s head though. Instead, his head seamed to extend out of his neck like a dog’s head, or a horse’s head, and he had a large nose and mouth. His ears extended out of the top of his head and were pointed, like a cat’s ears. He turned his head to look at his body. He appeared to have a greyish blue fur and feathers, and a dark blond tail and mane. A word appeared in his head. Pegasus Pony. That was the name for his new kind.
It was then that he noticed the Mark. It was no longer on his inner forearm, instead it was on his rump, burning with a lower intensity than he was used to. In fact, the dark urges that had grown every time he had killed from the time he had gotten the Mark seemed weaker somehow. He could ignore them more easily.
“Dean!” a voice called to him from his right. He looked in that direction and noticed another one of the strange alien beings about 100 meters down the shore of the lake. It had silvery white fur and a dark brown mane and tail. It didn’t have wings like Dean, but it did have a horn growing out of its head. Another word popped into his head. Unicorn Pony.
“Dean! Is that you?” the alien called again. How did it know his name? then Dean realized something.
“Sammie?” Dean called.
“Dean!” exclaimed the alien that was Sam. They started running to each other. When they met in the middle, they wrap each other awkwardly in a hug, their new alien biology making it difficult to figure out.
“What happened?” Dean asked after they had let go of the hug.
“I don’t know, last thing I knew, Death snapped his fingers, then suddenly I’m here, looking like this.” Sam replied
“How did you know it was me?” Dean asked.
“I saw the Mark on your flank.” Sam said.
Really, that was the only explanation needed, as the Mark was very distinctive.
Looking around them, Dean asked no one in particular “Where are we? Where is Death?”
“You are on the world Equuis, in the country of Equestria.” Replied a beautiful, majestic voice above them. They looked up to see what looked like a giant alien, that had white fur, a rainbow mane and tail of soft colors, and also both wings and horn. It was adorned in golden finery, and was gently flapping it wings as it descended down to meet them. Another word popped into Deans head. Alicorn Princess.
“As for Death, unfortunately, he could not accompany you here due certain restrictions in place. However, he has told me all about you, and your plight.” The alien continued.
“Who are you?” asked both Winchester brothers at the same time.
The alien laughed softly, before saying in a regal voice “I am Princess Celestia, one of the ruling diarchs of Equestria, and Goddess of the Sun and the balance of life and death.” She paused, before saying ”In essence, I suppose you could say that I am this worlds incarnation of Death.”
Author's Note
Im not sure where I am going to take this, so we will just see how it goes.
A Walk With the Sun Goddess
Dean blinked, not sure if he had heard the majestic being correctly. It had not escaped his attention that he and Sam had not been speaking in English, but instead they had made strange guttural, whinnying noises that had somehow formed into words that made sense.
When the words “Pegasus Pony” had first popped into his head, they were not just words, they also came with the full understanding of what a Pegasus Pony actually was. He knew that pegasi were one of three tribes of ponies, that they were the only tribe capable of flight, and that they specialized in weather control.
The same had happened when “Unicorn Pony” had popped into his head. He had understood that Unicorns were another tribe of ponies, and that they were the only tribe capable of magic. With “Alicorn Princess” he had understood that Alicorns were not a tribe of ponies, but had the power of all three tribes, and were more powerful than any of the others.
What he had not known, nor understood, was that he was on a world known as Equuis, in a country called Equestria, that Equestria was apparently a diarchy (though he did understand what a diarchy was), that one of those diarchs was an Alicorn princess named Celestia, and that she was the goddess of the sun, and the incarnation of Death.
So it was understandable that he felt confused, as the things he knew but did not remember learning, and the things he did not know but just now learned, became a bewildering mishmash in his head.
Sam on the other hand, just powered through it, and asked Celestia “Wait, so you’re Death?”
Celestia smiled and replied “Not in the same way that you knew Death. Whereas you knew Death as an Incarnation, I am responsible for more than just guiding ponies to their final destination after they die, I am also responsible for guiding the sun across the sky, and for maintaining the cycle of life.”
“So, wait, if you’re a goddess, do you eat ponies?” Dean interjected suddenly.
Celestia frowned, as if she took great umbrage at the question, but then sighed, before saying “Death has told me a great deal about your world, and how some deity’s liked to eat your kind. Rest assured that I am not like them. I have always tried to guide and protect my little ponies from harm.”
“Your little ponies? What are you, their mother?” Dean snarked without thinking. Sam winced, wishing Dean wouldn’t try to piss of the all mighty deity. But Celestia just laughed, a soft trilling sound that was pleasant to hear.
“Not in the literal sense, I’m afraid. But I like to think that I am a mother figure to all ponykind” Celestia responded
There was an awkward pause after that that seemed to drag on for a few moments, before Sam thought to ask another question.
“So… are you the one who is going to Seal the Mark?” he asked.
“No, there is a different Alicorn Princess who will handle that.” Celestia replied “In fact, I believe we should be on our way to meet her. I would rather not run the risk of murder any longer than necessary”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked, confused.
Celestia pointed her hoof at the Mark on Dean’s flank.
“What, you don’t trust me?” Dean asked, surprised
“Let’s just say that while I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, Dean Winchester, I am not willing to trust that Mark not to influence you at an inopportune time.” Celestia replied.
“Gee, lady. It’s nice to know I’m so well beloved” Dean replied sarcastically.
“It is, isn’t it?” Celestia said serenely, before turning around.
“Please follow me, we should make haste to see her.” Celestia said as she started walking. Not having anything better to do, Sam and Dean followed as she requested.
“The name of the princess we are to going to see is Twilight Sparkle, a former student of mine.” Celestia said as they walked. “She is known as the Princess of Friendship. She and her friends are the wielders of The Elements of Harmony.”
“Sounds like the star of a little fillies show.” Dean commented. Celestia chuckled.
“Dean, be nice.” Sam scolded. Turning his head to Celestia, he said “Please forgive him for being rude. This is all so new to us, that we are both a little tense.” “Speak for yourself” Dean muttered
“Do not worry, my little pony, all is forgiven.” Celestia replied.
Sam’s face reddened. He was not used to strangers being so familiar with him, unless they wanted something. But he kept his cool.
While all of this was happening, they had been walking along a road that had appeared to be close to the lake. A few moments later, they crested a rise to see what look like a quaint village of colorful cottages that would not have been out place in rural Europe. Overlooking it was a massive castle that appeared to made out of crystals of varying colors, mostly shades of blue, purple and gold. It looked to be in the shape of a tree.
“This is Ponyville, where Princess Twilight Sparkle resides” Celestia pronounced.
They paused for a moment, looking in at the village. Here and there, Dean could spot residents, ponies of all kinds. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies wandered the street or flew in the air. It was somewhat startling to see pegasi flying so casually. Dean might not have payed attention in science class, but even he knew that the wings on his back should have been too small to lift him. With that thought, a powerful desire to tryout his wings overcame him.
Some of the information he had learned without actually learning involved how to take off and fly. However, there was a big difference between knowing how to do something, and actually doing it.
Dean unfurled his wings, then gave them an experimental flap. To his surprise, one flap was enough to lift him a foot off the ground. He was even further surprised when it took him more than a second to sink to the ground.
Excited, he gave his wings another flap, with the same results. Eager to try some more, he started flapping his wings in a rhythm that his flying knowledge told him has a stable pattern, and he shot of into the air. Whooping, he started to ascend as fast as he could, only to be caught in… something, that he realized was the telekinetic field of Celestia.
“Sorry, young one, but right now we must exercise discretion” Celestia said as she gently pulled Dean back down to earth. “Follow me now, Please.”
Dean had a grumpy look on his face, but he followed Celestia and Sam nonetheless.
As they walked into Ponyville, none of the residents seemed to notice them. Which was peculiar, because Dean thought that unless this was an everyday thing, the residents would have at least noticed one of their diarchs. Sam voiced his thoughts before he could say anything.
“Why don’t any of them notice us?” He asked.
“I have placed a spell so that they don’t.” Celestia replied. “As I have said, we must exercise discretion.”
“Why?” Dean asked “Why are you in such a hurry?”
“It may not seem obvious to you, Dean, but you pose a grave threat to my littles ponies.” Celestia responded. “I would rather have that threat neutralized as quickly as possible.”
“Hey, you’ll get no arguments here, but aren’t you being a little premature?” Dean asked
“In what way?” Celestia responded
“I don’t know, I’m just feel a little put out” Dean replied “It like you’re in a such rush help me out, but you’re not really doing it for me, you’re doing it for your ‘little ponies’”
Celestia was quiet for a moment as they walked, before saying “You cannot deny that the Mark poses a great risk for them. If the Mark is not sealed, and quickly, the odds of you killing somepony goes up significantly. I would not like to have to have to imprison you so soon after you have started a new life free of the troubles that have plagued you for so long.”
“I get it, I do” Dean replied but before could retort, Sam interrupted him. “Dean, please just be grateful that we are getting any help at all.”
“Fine, Fine.” Dean grumbled.
“We have arrived” Celestia announced suddenly.
A Difference Between Worlds
Dean started, he hadn’t really been paying attention to where they were going. He looked up to see that they were at the foot of the crystal castle that they had seen overlooking Ponyville earlier in the day. From this angle, the castle looked massive. It was casting a long shadow over them.
Celestia raised a hoof to knock on the door, knocking three times. They heard a voice answer from inside. A few moments later, the door opened, and what looked like large purple lizard with a fat, light green belly, green spikes on his head, and stumpy legs and arms, emerged.
“Princess Celestia! What are you doing here?” the lizard exclaimed.
“Hello Spike.” Celestia replied serenely “An important matter has come up that I must speak to Twilight about. Is she in?”
“Er, yeah” the lizard whose name was Spike, answered. “I think she’s working on one of her research projects. Would you like to come in?”
“Please” Celestia replied, smiling.
Spike gestured in welcome, and stepped aside to let them in. When he noticed Sam and Dean, he asked “Who are these ponies?”
“Ah, forgive me for being so rude, Spike.” Celestia replied, before gesturing for introductions.
“This is Sam Winchester” she said, pointing at Sam.
“And this is Dean Winchester” she pointed at Dean.
“Sam, Dean, this is Spike the Dragon.” She said while gesturing at Spike. “Princess Twilight Sparkle’s number one assistant.”
“Yep, that me! Twilights Number One Assistant” his chest puffed with pride.
“You’re a dragon!?” Sam blurted
“Well, yeah” replied Spike “I’m only a baby dragon, but one day I’ll grow up to be big and strong, just you wait!”
“And we all look forward to that day, Spike” Interject Celestia “But I believe I said that I had to see Twilight about an important matter.”
“Oh, right.” Spike said. “Er, I’ll show you to the living room, then I’ll go get her. Is that ok?”
Spike led his guests the castle living room, then rushed off to find Twilight.
“Why is there a Dragon here?!” Sam exclaimed.
“I am not sure what you mean?” Celestia asked, confused.
“Aren’t they all monsters?” Sam replied.
“Monsters? What do you mean by that?”
“Well, where we come from, dragons like to rape and eat virgins, and horde gold.” Sam explained.
Celestia looked shocked, as if the very idea of Spike, or anyone else for that matter, raping or eating someone was alien to her.
“NO!” she exclaimed “Spike wouldn’t do that! No one would do that! The very idea!”
Sam blinked, surprised by Celestia’s loud protest. There was an awkward pause.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, lady, but monsters eat people all the time.” Dean said “A lot of murders happen because of the monsters that like to eat them.”
“There has not been a murder in Equestria in 300 hundred years.” Celestia said quietly.
Dean blinked, stunned.
“What?” he asked
“There has not been a murder in Equestria in over 300 hundred years.” Celestia responded, a bit louder.
“You’re lying. There’s no way there can’t be murder, it happens all the time.” Dean said, disbelieving.
“You think I would lie about something like that?” Celestia asked, eyebrow raised. “it is the truth, murder is rare in this country.”
“Then someone is pulling the wool over your eyes, cause murder just doesn’t not happen” Dean replied.
“The world that you come from must be a horrible, tragic place, if you would believe that I am lying, rather than that murder is rare.” Celestia commented.
Dean paused, thinking.
“Wait, if murder is rare, what about war?” Sam asked “Surely you have to kill ponies in war.”
“War, if anything, is scarcer.” Celestia replied “Equestria’s last war happened over 500 years ago.”
“How is that possible?” Sam asked “Surely you would have to fight for resources, if nothing else.”
Celestia smiled.
“The truth, Sam, is that I have a number of policies in place that prevent that from happening.” She replied. “We have strict population control laws. Herds are not allowed to have more than 2 foals per mare. We have a policy of using diplomacy before resorting to conflict, which is often more successful than conflict anyway. We have many treaties and trade agreements with our neighbors, and a careful international balance of power between nations. We have laws in place to prevent our lower class citizens from being exploited by the wealthier class.”
She paused, before saying “All in all, the results speak for themselves.”
“So you just expect us to believe that everything is just hunky dory, huh? Bullshit.” Dean said.
“I don’t, actually.” Celestia said, a cross look on her face “I expect you look it up yourself. I expect that you will not take my words at face value, because that is what I expect of all of my little ponies, to think for themselves, not simply believe everything I say.”
She sighed, before saying “This world is not your world, our ways are not your ways. If you are going to live here, you will have accept that your old life is over. We don’t need you to hunt down evil, because the evil you seek does not exist, except within yourself, due to that Mark.”
Dean was quiet, trying to process the words he had heard. He knew what the words meant, but he just could not bring himself to believe them.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden bright purple flash. Standing at the entrance to the living room was a pony with a light purple coat and dark purple mane and tail that had pink highlights. And Spike.
“Princess Celestia! I’m so sorry, I came as soon as Spike told me you were here!” the pony exclaimed.
“It’s alright, Twilight.” Said Celestia, smiling.
“May I introduce Sam and Dean Winchester?” she said, gesturing at them
“Hi” said Sam “I’m Sam”
“I’m Dean” Said Dean gruffly
“Oh, hello” said Twilight “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, the princess of Friendship.”
“Nice to meet you.” Said Sam. Dean said nothing.
“So, what was this urgent matter you had to talk to me, Princess?” Twilight asked “and why are they here?”
Celestia sigh, then said “It’s a long story, would you like to sit down?”
Twilight blinked, then moved to sit down, and looked at Celestia expectantly.
“It starts” Celestia began “with a secret that I have been keeping for a very long time.”